COVINGTON, La. (RNS) — An Alabama woman used the spine of a Bible to conceal several hacksaw blades that helped her husband and three other inmates escape a maximum-security prison. Claudia Buras was booked into the St. Tammany Parish jail…
Sharing the faith in harrowing circumstances
LEESBURG — Looking down the muzzle of a pistol held by a stranger in your own home changes the day’s priorities. It certainly did for Bob and Frances Belote on Friday, July 10. Both in their 80s, they had just…
FAITH DIGEST
Evangelical scientist nominated to head national agency. Francis Collins, the researcher who mapped the human genome and navigated clashes between his Christian faith and science, has been nominated by President Obama to lead the National Institutes of Health. An atheist…
Leesburg couple faces harrowing experience as hostages in their own home
LEESBURG — Looking down the muzzle of a pistol held by a stranger in your own home changes the day’s priorities. It certainly did for Bob and Frances Belote on Friday, July 10. Both in their 80s, they had just…
Baptist Extension Board expands loan policy to assist churches struggling in flat economy
RICHMOND — Virginia Baptist churches which are struggling with financial shortfalls may find some relief as a result of a new policy adopted July 24 by the Baptist Extension Board. For the first time, the Extension Board is offering loans…
Looking for leaders: What’s a church to do?
When the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship held its general assembly recently in Houston, leaders documented a quiet shift that went almost unnoticed among the 2,000 people attending the annual meeting. For the first time, graduates of the theological schools that partner…
Episcopal presiding bishop terms individualistic salvation ‘heresy’ and ‘idolatry’
ANAHEIM, Calif. (ABP) — The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church called the evangelical teaching that individuals can be right with God a “great Western heresy” that is behind many problems facing the church and the wider society. Presiding Bishop…
Christian schools report more closures, see increased drops in enrollment
A Colorado-based organization of Christian schools is reporting that more than 200 schools closed or merged in its last fiscal year. As of June 30, 186 schools had closed and 16 had merged, according to the Association of Christian Schools…
White House advisory council maps out faith-based plans
WASHINGTON (RNS) — Members of a new White House advisory council have mapped out plans to link government and religious groups, from interfaith service projects to regional town halls on fatherhood. Eboo Patel, founder of Chicago-based Interfaith Youth Core, said…
Good Samaritan series hopes to kick-start Christian action
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (RNS) — The camera follows Steve Jones as he walks along an alley in Grand Rapids, Mich., just as he did one early December morning singing “O Holy Night.” He came upon a man sleeping in the…
FAITH SHAPERS: Teaching positive behaviors
Welcome back from our trip to Bizarro World. Hopefully our tongue-in-cheek discussion of Bizarro parenting helped us all to see the unintended consequences of many parenting decisions. Now I’d like for us to return our focus to building virtues. Don’t…
OUT LOUD
“I’ve just taken it in stride. In some cases, being a person of my faith will sometimes even open a door. Other times it will shut a door. You just deal with it.” Keith Ellison The congressman from Minnesota was…